Polypharmacy is Medspeak for taking more than one prescription medication at a time. About one in five Americans over age 49 is a polypharmicist, of sorts....more
Zofran (ondansetron) has often been used to combat nausea during pregnancy. It has never been approved by the FDA for that indication, but clinical experience has not supported an association with pregnancy-related risks –...more
Over ten years ago, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that pregnant women who take Depakote (valproate) have a much higher chance of giving birth to a baby who suffers low IQ or a birth defect. In response,...more
Heaps of ignominy are not in short order for parties that played sketchy roles in fostering the nation’s deadly opioid abuse and drug overdose crisis. The stain has spread now to one of corporate America’s most-favored...more
In an attempt to reduce the risk of death from opioid overdose, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) issued a Drug Safety Communication recommending that providers discuss the availability of Naloxone, the opioid...more
Contraceptive Is Linked to Injuries and Deaths and Now Is the Subject of Lawsuits - Bayer, the company that manufactured and marketed the dangerous birth-control device Essure, is looking more and more like a bad actor as...more
The Office of Pharmaceutical Quality (OPQ) in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) within the US Food and drug Administration (FDA) published its annual “Report on the Sate of Pharmaceutical Quality” last week....more
On March 4, 2019 FDA announced the availability of a draft guidance titled Nonproprietary Naming of Biological Products: Update (“Naming Guidance”). According to FDA’s announcement the Naming Guidance reflects FDA’s current...more
On Feb. 7, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a press release and on the following day published an accompanying notice in the Federal Register announcing a Pilot Project Program Under the Drug Supply...more
Was Uloric Approval the Safe Decision? Attempts in 2005 and 2006 to obtain government-approval to sell Uloric were denied by the FDA due to concerns about research data that showed a slight elevation in the risks of death...more
Opioid Education - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) crept cautiously closer to curbing the opioid crisis by approving sweeping changes as to how the prescription drugs are labeled. Going forward, such...more
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized two important Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA)-related guidances that aim to help pharmaceutical trading partners understand their compliance obligations...more
In a highly anticipated step, which had been teased by agency leadership in their public appearances over the past several months, FDA released a series of draft guidance documents pertaining to the development and approval...more
On June 4, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a major restructuring in its Office of New Drugs (OND) within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). OND currently includes six offices with 19...more
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced implementation of a new “concept of operations” that seeks to improve FDA’s oversight over pharmaceutical manufacturers. The concept of operations complements FDA’s program...more
Facing pressure from stakeholders and technological realities, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has again delayed its enforcement of parts of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). As we discussed in a prior post,...more
Fluoroquinolones is a drug used to treat respiratory and urinary infections. Fluoroquinolones include these drugs: - Avelox (moxifloxacin); - Cipro (ciprofloxacin); - Cipro extended-release (Cirpofloxacin...more
At the Annual European Congress on Rheumatology (EULAR 2016), held last week in London, Samsung Bioepis presented new clinical data on its etanercept, adalimumab, and infliximab biosimilars. According to a press release from...more
On May 31, 2016, the FDA issued a notice that FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (FDA/CBER) intends to “enhance technical collaboration and cooperation between the FDA, WHO, and its member states to facilitate...more
Google “fluoroquinolones,” and page after page of search results come up about the dangers, risks and side effects of the antibiotic. Articles appear citing arrhythmia, nerve damage and type 2 diabetes all being associated...more
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirement that pharmaceutical companies report dangerous side effects cause by medicines they manufacture is being flouted by a few bad actors. Such violations of the federal law are...more
The Arizona Supreme Court will soon decide whether to grant or deny review of the Court of Appeals’ January 2015 decision regarding the longstanding “learned intermediary” doctrine. In January, the lower court held that the...more
On August 27, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released long-awaited and highly anticipated draft guidance regarding the non-proprietary naming of biological products, including biosimilars. The draft...more
In the wake of the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) recently announced warning against giving codeine to children under 12 years old, the FDA announced its own safety investigation of the drug for use in children. The FDA’s...more
On January 7, 2014, a three-judge panel of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Columbia unanimously vacated the dismissal of claims against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and others by K-V...more